Love Knows No Bounds
by GoDale13
Summary: My take on the events after Semper Fidelis. Spoilers for that episode so BEWARE! Title really does not fit, I just liked it and that's what I used! TIVA Oneshot


_**WARNING**: This story has major spoilers for this weeks episode: Semper Fidelis. It's kinda my take on how I thought things should turn out_

_Hope you enjoy this story! It's a oneshot. I promise that I will have the final chapter for my other story: Bourn Again, posted before the end of the week. I have it mostly handwritten. I just have to sit down and type it out for ya!_

_I own none of the characters, but own the first five seasons!_

Tony opened the door with his free hand. His other hand, still in the sling, held a half-empty beer bottle. He had half-expected to find her on the other side, yet still was surprised to see her there.

"May I come in?" she asked hesitantly, not looking up at his eyes. Tony just silently opened the door wider, and she walked in.

"Beer?" Tony asked, heading towards the kitchen. If she was going to stay long, he was going to need another.

"How is your arm?" Ziva asked. The air in the apartment was so thick the two felt it closing in on them.

"Better. The doctor says I can get out of this damn contraption," Tony said, taking a deep drink of his beer.

It had been a tough past few weeks for the two teammates. In fact, the past year had been tough. After Rivkin died, new secrets came out. Secrets that hurt everyone on the team. Most of all, these secrets hurt Ziva, yet she refused to admit it.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes. "I should have realized what was going on," Ziva spoke up, looking at the bottle in her hand.

"You couldn't have known," Tony told her.

"You know, now I know how Jeanne felt after finding out who you were," Ziva said. After escorting Rivkin's body back to Israel, the NCIS team learned the full truth. Rivkin's full mission had not been to destroy a terrorist cell, but to use Ziva's position in NCIS the same way NCIS was using it: to spy on each other. "I knew there was something off when my father assigned Michael and I as partners. He never paid attention to who I was partnered with before," Ziva continued. "I let my training slip. I should have seen this coming," she scolded herself for the umpteenth time since returning to D.C.

"Ziva, anyone would have done the same thing if they were in your shoes," Tony replied.

"I have to choose," Ziva sighed, finally getting to the reason she was there. "I am no longer allowed to be Mossad and NCIS."

"That can't be too hard of a decision," Tony said, feeling his heart break as he said it. Mossad was her life and Israel was her home country. "When are you leaving?" he asked, taking a drink of his beer.

Ziva looked at him for a moment. "You automatically assume I chose Mossad?" Ziva asked

"There's no reason for you to stay here," Tony explained, taking another drink to keep himself from saying what he really wanted to say.

"Maybe you are right," Ziva sighed, she knew it had been wrong to come here. "I should leave," she said, getting up from the couch. "My flight is early tomorrow."

Tony stared at the wall as he heard Ziva open the door and walk out. If he looked at her, he knew there was no stopping what he might do.

That night, Tony lay tossing in his bed, listening to the rain hit his bedroom window. Tomorrow Ziva was flying away forever, and he would have to face going to work every day and not seeing her. The transition between Kate and Ziva had been difficult, but could have been worse. The next transition would be even worse, Tony was sure of that. No one could replace Ziva, she complemented him in every detail. She understood how he worked, not many could do that.

Tony stood in his kitchen drinking a glass of water. His mind made up, Tony grabbed his keys off the counter and headed out the door.

Ziva stood surrounded by piles of cardboard boxes. Tony had made the choice for her: there was nothing keeping her at NCIS. One word and she would have stayed, but he didn't and here she was leaving the town she had grown to call her home. The team had become a makeshift family for her, a family that she hadn't had before. Tony had made it very clear to her before: she was only on a 'weekend pass.' Her weekend pass was over, now she had to go home.

A banging on her door interrupted Ziva's reverie. Weaving through the boxes, Ziva glanced at the clock and wondered who could be visiting this late at night. Opening the door, Ziva found a soaking wet Tony on the other side.

"Tony, what are you doing here? It is three in the morning," Ziva exclaimed, letting the man in.

"I couldn't sleep," Tony said, trying to catch his breath. "I lied back there," he said when Ziva returned with a dry towel. "I can think of hundreds of reasons why you shouldn't leave. Then there'd be two Probies on the team, and that's just wrong. We'd have to train a newbie, and you know how Gibbs feels about that. I wouldn't have anyone to enjoy my McGee pranks. There'd be no one who understands me like you do. No one that could calm me with a touch or just standing by me like you," Tony admitted.

"Tony, you know that I do not have a choice," Ziva said. "If I choose NCIS, than I have to sever ties that I've had for years. Mossad is safest decision. I know how the system better than NCIS," she tried to explain.

"Dammit, Ziva," Tony exclaimed, throwing the towel on the floor. "I love you, and I don't think I could make it without you here."

Ziva stood there, her mind trying to comprehend what Tony just said. This had to be a dream. There was no way Tony was standing right in front of her confessing his feelings for her.

"I've cared about you for a long time but have been afraid to admit it. I screwed things up so bad with Jeanne, that I didn't think I could ever trust myself again. But, when Michael came into the picture, it all came back. Yes, I was jealous, I'll admit it finally. But, I was also worried for your safety. My gut told me that something was not right, and it was right. Even Gibbs was worried about it. Now, you could just say that it is because of what happened to Kate. Maybe that's true. Maybe we watch out for our teammates more now because of that," Tony rambled.

"Tony, stop talking," Ziva said, moving closer to him. "There will be time for talking later," she whispered, closing the distance between the couple and kissing Tony

The kiss seemed to erase the problems that surrounded them right then. Everything seemed to be going right. With that one kiss, Tony knew that things would be okay. He'd finally admitted his feelings, and it hadn't bit him in the butt.

"Please don't go," Tony whispered in Ziva's hair when they broke for air.

"I will never leave," Ziva said, hugging Tony tightly to her. "D.C. is my home, and nothing is going to keep me away. This is where my family is, where those I love are," she said, leaning back to look at Tony's face. "Where the man I love lives," she added before they kissed again.

Sure there would be more complications but for now everything was right in the world. Tony and Ziva were in each others' arms and the world was miles away.

_What'd you think? It's probably not the best I've written, but I just had to write it down._


End file.
